Method of defibrating cotton seed and other fiber-bearing material



' Nov. 24 1925- 1,563,263

E. C. DE SEGUNDO METHOD OF DEFIBRATING COTTON SEED AND OTHER FIBER BEARING MATERIAL Filed Oct. 31. 1922 Z U .Z 6M8 Qezas'zwm Patented Nov. 24,

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EDWARD CARSTENSEN DE SEGUNDO, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

METHOD OF DEFIBEATING COTTON SEED OTEER FTiBER-TBEARING MATERIAL.

Application filed October 31, 1922 To "all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD Gansrnxsnn on SEGUNDO, a subject of the King ot Great Britain, residing in London, England, have invented a certain new and useful improved Method of Defibrating Cotton Seed and Other F iber-Bearing Material, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists in an improved method of defibrating cotton seed and other fiber bearing material, as for instance the decorticated hulls of cotton seed, and of segregating the detached fibers.

In carrying out the improved method, the material to betreated is caused to pass through a defibrating zone under the action of gravity and centrifugal force, the rate of the movement of the material through such zone being regulated according to the degree to which it is desired to defibrate the material and the regulation being assisted by varying at will the cross sectional area of the zone. The discharge of the defibrated material from the defibrating zone is arranged to be free and unhindered as far as practicable.

Segregation of the detached fibers may be effected in accordance with the disclosure in my U. S. Patent No. 1,329,838, Feb. 3, 1920, by employing a plenum of air directed by the action of the defibrating elements in the defibrating zone, but in the present invention a more effective and expeditious segregation of the fibers results from the employment of a current ofair established by any mechanical or positive means in contradistinction to that described in said patent. The current of air is caused to traverse the mass of material undertreatment in a direction diflerent from that in which the defibrated material is discharged from the defibrating zone, free access of air to the said zone being permitted in order to promote the passage of air into and through the zone in obedience to whatever method may be adopted for producing such current of air. a

The accompanying diagrammatic drawing illustrates apparatus adapted for carrying out the improved defibrating method, Fig. 1 being a vertical section of one form of a defibrating chamber; and Figs. 2 and 3 being fragmentary sections, each showing a modified form of the defibrating chamber,

- and Fig. 4 is a detail view showing the Serial No. 598,170.

manner of adjusting the defibrating member on its shaft.

T he apparatus as illustrated in Fig. 1 c0ln prises a defibrating chamber a, which may be of upright conical form as indicated at a in Fig. 1, or cylindrical as shown at p in Fig. 2, or partly cylindrical and partly conical as depicted at Q in Fig. 8, with an aper tured lower end a. The inner surface of the chamber side wall may be smooth or rough and may be furnished with projecting parts. In the defibrating chamber is a rotatable member 5, operated by a shaft 0 which passes through the lower end of the defibrating chamber and can be rotated in any 7 convenient manner. The member 6 attached to the shaft 0 may be of any form suitable for carrying a number of defibrating de vices (Z.

The rotatable member I) is, preferably, closed at the top so that the seed or other material to be treated, when fed from above, may be constrained to pass through the annular space 6 between the rotatable member and the walls of the defibrating chamber a so and be exposed to the action of the defibrating devices (Z during its passage through the machine. The annular space 0 constitutes the defibrating zone above alluded to.

For the purpose of varying the cross seetional area of the defibrating zone, the position of the member a relative to the end a of the defibrating chamber a may be ad justable, for instance by arranging the said member to be slidable alongthe shaft 0 and keying it in any adjusted position as shown by Fig. 4% at c. i

On the top of the defibrating chamber a and coaxially therewith is arranged and litted a cover or hood 7. Mounted in or on the hood are sieve-like devices g that serve as sifters and outlets for the escape of very short fibers and of dust or other foreign matter which may be carried up in mechani cal mixture with the separated fibers, such dust and very short fibers or foreign matter tending to be expelled through the sievelike devices owing to the action of the current of air that is caused to pass through the machine. Such dust or short fibers may be allowed to settle within one or more compartments or chambers j formed for the purpose around the outside of the hood. In the outer wall of this compartment are doors or shutters 70 to permit of the removal, from time to time, of any dust or short fibers or other foreign matter deposited therein.

Dependent within the hood or cover 7 is a funnel or conduit Z which has its lower end opening into the chamber a and is arranged preferably centrally of said chamber. The material to be treated may be introduced into the interior of this funnel in any convenient manner. The portion of the funnel which passes down through the hood and terminates at a suitable level with respect to the upper part of the defibrating chamber a. forms an annular space m between it and the inner surface of the hood. This annular space should be of such a width as to ensure the ascent of the uprising fiber-laden air current without undue friction, while avoiding the formation of eddy currents to any serious extent, thus promoting the efficient action of the sieve-like screens over which the fiber-laden air-current passes and promoting efficient expulsion of the detached fibers from the machine and their delivery to the fiber-depositing chamber. The annular space m is open at its lower end to the interior of the defibrating chamber and communicates through its upper end with any conveniently disposed conduit n in which is mounted an evacuating device, such as the fan 0, that is arranged to be driven in any suitable manner for drawing in air through the openings at the bottom of the chamber a and to cause the current of air to pass through the annular space or defibrating zone 6 for the purpose of conveying upwardly to the conduit n the detached fibers, which are carried away by the evacuatingdevice to any desired point.

The funnel member Z may be supported in any suitable manner, for instance, by bracle ets r fixed to the top of the defibrating chamber a.

In the defibrating operation, the rotatable member 7; carrying the devices d is set in motion, whereupon the seeds or other material to be defibrated are fed into the funnel -Z and delivered to the defibrating chamber (6 and are impelled radially outwards towards the wall of the chamber by centrifugal force and subjected to the action of the devices cl. During their passage through the machine the seeds tend to be held in suspension while being acted upon by the devices d owing to the combined action of the rotating devices assisted by the conical form of the wall of the defibrating chamber. The air entering through a central opening a in bottom a, flows at first radially outwards below the devices 0? and then up wardly carrying with it the separated fibers. On its passage through that part of the annular space m which is opposite the sievelike devices 9, the current of air, laden with fiber and dust delivers dust and very fine fibers through the sieve-like devices In this manner a cleaning of the detached fibers may be effected. The fibers are carried by the current of air and are forwarded by the evacuating device 0, and eventually segregated in any convenient manner.

he defibrated material finds its way out through a suitably arranged outlet 2i provided for the purpose in the bottom or side wall of the defibrating chamber. The wall of the hood f should be of such a height that no defibrated material will be lifted by the current of air sufficiently to pass into the conduit n and be carried away by the evacuating device.

Having thus described the nature of the said invention and the best means I know of carrying the same into practical effect, I claim A method of defibrating cotton seed, decorticated cotton seed hulls, and other fiberbearing material, which consists in cansing the material to be treated to pass through a defibrating zone under the action of gravity and centrifugal force and causing defibration to occur during the movement of the material through such zone, the rate of movement of the material operated upon being regulated according to the degree to which it is desired to defibrate the material by varying the cross sectional area of the zone and freely discharging the defibrated material from the defibrating zone and subjecting the material operated upon to a mechanically and positively produced current of air which is caused to traverse the mass of material throughout the whole of the defibrating zone in a direction opposed to that in which the material is moving as a whole through the defihrating zone so that the fibers detached from the material throughout said zone are continuously 

